This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 and xc2xa7120 from an application for Apparatus and Method for Connecting Peripheral Devices in Computer Supporting IEEE 1394 earlier filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on Jul. 15, 1998 and there duly assigned Serial No. 28655/1998.
The present invention relates to connecting peripheral devices to a computer, and more particularly, to an apparatus and a method for connecting peripheral devices in a computer for supporting IEEE1394.
Computers often have peripheral devices connected to them. For example, an HDD, a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a DVD-RAM are some of the possible peripherals that can be connected to a computer. Peripherals can either be connected external to the housing of a computer or connected internally within the housing of a computer. The drawback of having peripherals connected internally to a computer is that these peripherals cannot ordinarily be accessed by other computers without extensive effort.
What is needed is a computer that allows peripherals located within the main chassis to be accessed by another computer. This can occur in one of two ways. First, the power may be off to the first computer containing the peripherals when the peripherals are accessed by the second computer or second, the power to the first computer may be on when the peripherals internal to the first computer are accessed by the second computer.
To solve the above problem, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for connecting peripheral devices in a computer supporting IEEE1394 by which it is possible to easily use internal peripheral devices of a main computer in an external computer by simply and directly connecting internal peripheral devices installed inside the main computer to the external computer, using a switch.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of connecting peripheral devices in a computer for supporting the IEEE1394 performed by the above apparatus.
Accordingly, to achieve the first object, there is provided an apparatus for connecting peripheral devices in a computer supporting IEEE1394 in which internal 1394 peripheral devices connected to 1394 physical layer ports are connected to a 1394 peripheral device using apparatus outside the computer, comprising a controlling portion for generating a control signal for selecting either the computer or the 1394 peripheral device using apparatus, external 1394 ports connected to 1394 connectors of the 1394 peripheral device using apparatus, and a switching portion for selectively connecting the internal 1394 peripheral devices to either the 1394 physical layer ports or the external 1394 ports in response to the control signal.
To achieve the second object, there is provided a method for connecting peripheral devices in a computer supporting IEEE1394 in which internal 1394 peripheral devices connected to 1394 physical layer ports are connected to the 1394 peripheral device using apparatus outside the computer, comprising the steps of (a) inputting the selection of a user with respect to a predetermined internal 1394 peripheral device after the computer is turned on, (b) intercepting the internal 1394 peripheral devices from the 1394 physical layer ports and connecting the internal 1394 peripheral devices to the external 1394 port connected to the 1394 connector of the 1394 peripheral device using apparatus when the 1394 peripheral device using apparatus is selected, and (c) intercepting the internal 1394 peripheral devices from the external 1394 ports and connecting the internal 1394 peripheral devices to the 1394 physical layer ports when the computer is selected.